Who Believes in Happy Endings Anyway?
by Not Ordinary
Summary: Lily, a senior in high school, knew her mother was going to arrange for her to have a housemate or two over the summer but the two grows into a larger number. Can Lily handle it?
1. Plans for 'Sometime'

**Title:**  Who Believes in Happy Endings Anyway?

**Author: **Ducky* 

**Rating: **PG – 13 for some of Aileen's choice words.

**Summary:** Lily, a senior in high school, knew her mother was going to arrange for her to have a housemate or two over the summer but the two grows into a larger number. Can Lily handle it? _Aileen__'s job is no dream. She hates it but it pays well and her best friend __Thom__ is there. __Thom__ has an interesting past and it still haunts him. Can __Aileen__ help him face it before everything falls apart for both of them?_

**Disclaimer: **I own the characters and general plot but there are elements blatantly stolen from other fairytales. I don't own those elements.  

**Author's note:** Does writing a new story when you still have one to finish make me a bad writer? I still have to finish Melena and I might soon. 

If you like, leave me a review or send one to dragontamer_15 @ hotmail.com with out the spaces and the title in the subject heading.

The endings may or may not be happy. I haven't decided yet. If there is confusion, just ask for clarification in a review/email and I'll be happy to clear everything up.

It will get to the fairytaleness in the next chapter I expect. Right now this is more introductory.

* I am now Ducky. I still respond to Keley though, if you've been reading my other story.

**_Plans for Sometime_**

~

_Aileen__Jameson__ walked into the '__James__ and Hewitt Attorneys at Law' building with a look of disgust on her face. 'What the fuck else can you be an attorney of?' she asked herself as the loud clomp of her lace up boots died. She had stopped in front of the elevators and as she waited she fixed her clothing noticing the looks she was getting from male receptionist. She glared at him over her small square glasses and he immediately looked away.  _

_Aileen__ smiled; a job well done. She straightened the long red and black plaid skirt that covered her white legs. Her black boots went up to her knees and a black sleeveless turtle neck covered her tall frame. A black blazer covered her arms and hands. She picked up her brief case and walked into the elevator as the machine emitted a loud, annoying, ringing sound._

~

            Lily Linnet's fingers flew across the key board of her black laptop. She hit the enter button slightly harder than was necessary as the lunch bell rang. Cursing she gathered her laptop and book bag jumping up from the grass she had been sitting in. She absently patted the tree she had been leaning against and then joined the rush of students hurrying to get to class on time.

            The high school senior pushed her way through the crowd toward her fourth period class. She slid into a seat in the back row and set up her laptop again. Looking at the board she realized that it was American Government, a class she had taken the summer before and passed but the school councilor refused to change her schedule. She had a habit of drifting through the school day but still was able to pass all of her classes.

            "Hey Linnet! Good to see you baby." A male voice behind her called. 

            "Hey Markson, leave me alone." She yelled back not looking up from her frantic searching for her document. 

            Finding it she put on her little head phones that went in her ears and began typing again.

~

            _When she reached the fifth floor __Aileen__ let herself into her employer's office and gathered the papers he had left for her on his desk. Walking back into her own office she began reading through the papers and making notes. As she sat down behind her desk a young man, the floor's coffee runner, walked in but she didn't look up. _

_            "Good morning __Thom__." She said still not looking at him. _

_            He walked over to her desk placing a tall, heavy coffee cup on her desk. "Good morning __Miss__Jameson__." She looked up and smiled at him. His chin length strawberry-blonde hair continually fell into his emotionless gray eyes._

_            "How is life treating you?" she asked compassionately. He was having a hard time at home if she was to believe what he told her._

_            He looked down slightly. "Actually, it's better than it was last week __Miss__Jameson__."_

_Aileen__ stood and walked around her desk. Gently she embraced him and smiled. "We're the same age you know. It's weird you calling me, __Miss__Jameson__. __Aileen__ will be fine." She whispered to him. _

_            "I know, but it's much more professional." He returned._

_            "Always the professional aren't you?" she answered still smiling. She let him go and walked back to her desk. "Hey, if you're not busy, do you want to go to lunch with me? I could use the company." _

_            "I don't know if it would be professional." He hesitated._

_            "It's only lunch silly. Besides neither of us is looking for relationships are we?" she asked._

_            He smiled and shook his head. "Well, then you see, we can go to lunch after all. I'll meet you in the lobby at twelve-forty-five if that's alright with you."_

_            He smiled and left. __Aileen__ sighed. __Thom__ was a good friend when he let himself talk to people. He had a hard time opening up to people but __Aileen__ didn't blame him. She didn't like talking to people either. It was one of the reasons she liked him. _

_            She smiled to herself and then went back to work. She was only twenty-one after all and she needed to pull her weight. _

~

            "L.L.! You're back!" a voice whispered excitedly, interrupting her American Government writing jag.

            "James, it's Lily. L.L. reminds me of the clothing company. If Lily is too hard for you, you can always call me Linnet." She turned to the boy behind her. In her impatient haste her long tawny ponytail narrowly missed slapping him in the face.

            "Hey-hey, slow down there, L." he grinned. 

            "I actually happen to like the fast pace of my life. Thank you very much."

            "I know but well, you wanna go out to lunch with me sometime?" James asked her.

            "Ummm, actually I have plans for sometime. Sorry." She said and turned back to her computer.

            "Alright, will you go out to lunch with me today?" he asked.

            "Good puppy," she patted his head, "Yes. I will go."

            "See you at lunch." He turned back to the board and Lily decided that paying attention might not be so bad.

~

            _Aileen__ waited quietly in the lobby at twelve-forty-five for __Thom__ to come down. She tapped her lace up boots impatiently and glared at the receptionist again. He was practically staring at her, drooling all over his desk._

_            She waited until one-fifteen but __Thom__ still hadn't shown up so she decided to go by herself. Walking to the nearest Baggins took only a few minutes and then it only took a few more for her sandwich to be ready. Walking back to her office she decided to stop in the park outside of her building to eat her lunch. _

_            She was blissfully alone and she relished the solitude. Her sister would be coming to town soon and __Aileen__ would get no solace while she was there. It wasn't that she didn't love her sister; it was just that __Bethany__ was a loud person. _

_Aileen__ sighed. The perfect __Bethany__Maryanne__Jameson__ was coming to visit her dear sweet _not _perfect sister. __Aileen__ wasn't perfect. She knew her family never said that she wasn't perfect; they never said that __Bethany__ was either. _

~

End chapter one. 


	2. Can I help you?

**Title:**  Who Believes in Happy Endings Anyway?

**_Author:_**Ducky 

**Rating: **PG – 13 for some of Aileen's choice words.

**_Summary:_** Lily, a senior in high school, knew her mother was going to arrange for her to have a housemate or two over the summer but the two grows into a larger number. Can Lily handle it? _Aileen__'s job is no dream. She hates it but it pays well and her best friend __Thom__ is there. __Thom__ has an interesting past and it still haunts him. Can __Aileen__ help him face it before everything falls apart for both of them?_

Disclaimer:**I own the characters and general plot but there are elements blatantly stolen from other fairytales. I don't own those elements.**  

**_Author's note:_** _Well, I hope you can guess which fairytale __Lily__'s story will turn into. Here's the next bit. I wonder if anyone is actually reading this or if all my readers are cursing me for writing this instead of Melena. I'll be interested to find out. No __Aileen__ this chapter. Be happy this chapter is considerably longer than any of the Melena ones and the first of this story._

~

**_Can I help you?_**

~

Lily made her way up the spiraling stairs to her tower room in the old castle her family lived in. Actually only Lily and her mother lived there. Her father had divorced her mother a long time ago. 

            Her room was nice as rooms go. Completely round, the walls were painted a flat olive green and the furniture had curved backs to fit better in the room. A desk sat under the only window and a small chair with no back sat under it. There was no bed but across from the desk was a humongous pile of soft plush pillows and blankets that could be turned into a bed. Atop the pile sat a small white stuffed rabbit. A short chest of drawers that could triple as a nightstand or as a chair in a pinch sat next to the bed. Kitty-corner from the bed was a small space heater which at the moment was quite redundant as it was over one hundred degrees outside during the day.

            Lily crashed into her room and dropped her bag next to the door and stomped over to her desk. Her mother had just informed her that she was having guests over. Lily was required to appear at dinner and then make herself scarce for the rest of the night.

            Getting up she went to her bureau and dug around for her party dress. Her mother had bought it for her a few months earlier for a gala her mother had been invited to. Her boss had asked her to bring her family.  

            The dress was of a creamy white satin. It was tight in the bodice and to the waist where it flared out slightly over her hips to gracefully cover her legs stopping mid calf. White faux fur trimmed the 'neck line' (the dress was strapless) and the hem. The dress captured the light in every way and accented her fairly tanned skin nicely. Her mother had never really bothered to look at the dress so there was no way she could object.

            Lily couldn't deny that she was pretty and she never said she wanted to. She didn't like all the attention she got from it but did have its advantages. Her mother would be very jealous if she even bothered to look at Lily.  

            Lily brushed her long tawny hair and pulled it into a high pony tail. Looking in the small mirror that hung on her wall she noticed some red streaks had highlighted themselves. The look actually complimented her light orange-brown eyes well. 

            She put on the white satin high heels that matched the dress and put a white fur scrunchy around her pony tail. Making no effort to muffle the sound she descended the five hundred – she had counted one day shortly after they had moved in – stairs, clomping down to the main hall. 

            The guests had not arrived yet so Lily went into the study off the front hall and picked up a book of her father's. It was one of his favorites and though she found it slightly dull and boring she had been reading it on and off for the last year. Sitting behind the desk her father would have loved she put her feet up on it one ankle crossed over the other and began reading.

            The door bell rang just as she was slipping into her reading trance. The sound echoed through out the castle and grumbling she got to her feet. Walking into the hall she noticed that her mother had not answered the door. Shrugging she went to do it for her.

            Pulling open one of the large doors was not hard for Lily. She was strong from years of walking up endless stairs and scaling walls. When the door was open she was greeted with the smiling faces of an older man and a woman, clearly his wife. "Hello, I'm sorry my mother could not come to the door. Please come in. I can take you to the dining room." She said giving the rehearsed speech she was required to give when she answered the door.

            "Well thank you dear. You look lovely," the woman paused, "Lily is it?"

            "Yes ma'am. This way please." She led the two to the dining room at the end of the hall. 

            "Our son is with us but he was still in the car-" Lily cut the man off. 

            "I'll just go fetch him. You wait right here and my mother will be right with you." Lily politely interrupted and left the hall.

            When she got back to the door there was a young man looking at the paintings her mother had hung on the walls. "Excuse me, please don't touch those." He had reached out to touch the large plants that stood next to the doors.

            "Oh, I'm sorry miss. I was looking for my parents." He answered her. He was taller than she was and handsome. He looked down at her as though she was a servant.

            "Please follow me. They are in the dining room." She shrugged it off and walked back to the dining room.

            "Ahh, Seamus! You're here." The older man cried. 

            "My mother has not been to see you yet?" She asked the woman.

            "No, I'm sorry darling she hasn't," the woman smiled.

            "I will go see what is keeping her. Please excuse me."

            "The help here sure dress nice. That girl who brought me here was cute too." Lily heard Seamus say as she left the room. 

            She smiled smugly to herself. 

            She quickly made her way to her mother's room. "Maryanne! Maryanne! Some of the guests are here!" she shouted out side her mother's room.

            Her mother yanked open the door. "Did you let them in?" she asked severely. 

            "Of course I did. I told them you'd be right down."

            "Very good. Now go do what ever you like to do." She flitted her hand and went back to fastening her earrings. 

            The door bell rang again. "I'll get it. You go to the dining room." Lily answered her mother before she could say anything. 

            Tramping back down stairs she hopped the next family, because it seemed her mother had invited families, would be all together at the door. Opening the door she found that they were. A man, his wife and two young men were standing on the front step. She realize that the young men were twins.

            "Hello, good evening. Please come in. I will take you to the dining room." She intoned. 

            "Thank you my dear. Is Maryanne around? I'd like to speak to her." The man said.

            "Oh yes, she's here. She will meet you in the dining room." Lily took their coats and hung them on the long line of coat hooks next to the doors. "Please follow me." She led them to the dining room trying not to stare behind her at the twin young men with the older couple. 

            Her mother was indeed in the dining room chatting with the other couple. The door bell rang again and Lily was running back to the doors. On the step this time there were three families. Six men and three women, all dressed up.

            She opened the door again and greeted the families again. "Come in, come in. Maryanne will meet you in the dining room. I'll take your coats," she said as politely as she could.

            The thanked her as she hung their coats and then followed her to the dining room. Her mother welcomed them loudly and then signaled the caterers to put out the food. The place cards put Lily between the twins, Fechín and Fionnlagh as their place cards said, and across from Seamus. He raised an eyebrow when she sat down. She smiled sweetly and held up her place card.

            "As you all know, I've invited you here tonight to have dinner and tour this house. Our children will be staying here this summer." Maryanne Linnet addressed her guests.

            She was at the other end of the long table and didn't hear the soft exchange her daughter was having with the twins and Seamus. "That's news to me." The dark green haired twin said to Lily. She hadn't noticed his hair color until then.

            "Me too. And I live here all the time." She whispered back.

            "I'm Fionnlagh by the way." He winked at her.

            "Lily." She shook his hand.

            Not to be out done the other twin introduced himself as Fechín and kissed her hand. She smiled at him and introduced herself.

            "And you," she pointed lightly to the boy across from her, "Are Seamus. Are you not?" 

            He looked at her suspiciously. "How did you know?" 

            "It's funny what you miss sometimes isn't it. You're father all but shouted it when I brought you here. And just for your information we don't have any servants aside from the maids that come once a week. Well, and the caterers mother hired for tonight."

            He looked slightly sheepish. "You heard that?"

            "You weren't that quiet about it, Shay."

            "What did you just call me?"

            "Shay. Well, if you're to live in my house I get to give you nicknames." She smiled and winked.

            "And what about us?" Fechín asked.

            "Well, you can be Fey or Fetch. Can you live with that?" She was having a good time with the three boys so far. She hadn't though she would. 

            "And me?" Fionnlagh asked.

            "Fin." 

            They joked around until dinner was finished and then Lily's mother excused her saying she had homework to do. "I'll be in the study." She whispered to the dismayed boys.

            "We'll send the rest to meet you." Seamus whispered as she passed him.

~

Lily picked up her father's book again seating herself in the same manner she had earlier. It wasn't long before she heard someone shuffling around the hall whispering her name. Seconds later Seamus poked his head into the study. "There you are. Why did your mother banish you?"

            Lily smiled at him. "I don't know. She doesn't like me very much." 

            "Well we will be here this summer and Fey and Fin and I like you."

            She grinned. "I like you too. You all are very sweet."

            "I guess I'll go now so I can tell the others where to go. Your mother has us playing games now."

            "That's just like her. Have fun."

            A few minutes later, two young men she hadn't met before joined her in the study. They were silent for a few minutes until Lily noticed them. "Can I help you?" 

            "Seamus sent us." The taller of the two answered.

            "Okay. That still doesn't answer my question."

            "We are looking for Lily," said the other shorter young man.

            "And you are?"

            "I am Cian and this is Carbrey," the taller one said. 

            "Nice to meet you. I'm Lily." She stood up to shake hands with them.

            "Nice to meet you as well Lily." They were very polite. Quietly they left and Lily was alone again.

            Another two young men stopped in a few minutes later flanked by Fin and Fey. "Lil!" they hugged her instead of shaking hands.

            "Fin, Fey!" she hugged them back. "And who are you?" she asked the last young men after releasing the twins.

            "Fillin." The first one answered.

            Lily shook his hand. "Fil then?" he grinned at her and nodded.

            The other young man was much more timid that the rest. Lily smiled at him and asked again what his name was.

            "Muireadhach," said the indigo haired young man.

            "Do you mind if I call you Red?" Lily asked him shaking his hand. He shook his head. "I will see you all this summer whenever you arrive." She hugged Fin and Fey again, because they seemed like the touchy-feely types, and sent them back to the entertainment.     

            Lily wondered when her mother would actually have the boys move in. She decided it would be the day after school ended. That would be so typical of her mother.


End file.
